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Toxicity
Toxicity is a short story written by Hazelcats and Odst grievous. Chapter 1 Parties were some of the best and worst things about being in The Heroes Organization. Olympus had some of the best event planners alive, and they definitely wanted to put their skills to use, because who knows when they might be not-alive anymore? That was probably why there was always so much going on around Olympus; unless you’re a god, you’re probably going to die soon. You only live once, right? That didn’t mean Rachel and her teammates were always invited, though. Sometimes they were open to the public, sometimes they were by invite only, and sometimes they were by compulsory invite only. More often than not, the team was under the “invite-only and you didn’t get an invite” category because they hadn’t done quite enough saving-the-world to receive proper recognition by event-invitation. This was not one of those times. Despite the great events that were always thrown by Olympus and the people affiliated with it, there were so many factors that made them unenjoyable, in Rachel’s opinion. Sometimes it was the guests; gods, Olympian Elite could be so passive aggressive and pompous. Other times it was the type of event; a rager? Don’t even go, because you won’t remember a thing the next morning and your wallet will probably be missing. Someone-saved-the-world celebration? Those were usually only fun if you were the person that saved it. Galas? Well...that’s where she was now. The gala was being held in a large hall in New York City to “celebrate our law enforcement and those that support their work to keep our world safe!” This meant that any member of any protection or questing agency that was physically or safely able to was required to attend and mingle with each other and thank the Olympian Elite that graciously donated their own hard-earned money to support them. It was awful. Not only were the benefactors condescending, but so were some of the members of the “more experienced” law enforcement groups. Rachel didn’t care if these people had saved the entire southern hemisphere from a neverending dust storm or had saved the life of the man that was twelfth in line for the British throne, if they were going to act like she and her teammates weren’t worth much to Olympus because they hadn’t stopped a nuclear war in their barely-a-year’s existence, they could stick their champagne glass where the sun didn’t shine. That was another thing: drinking. Since this event was so classy, most people weren’t flat out drunk. Not yet, anyway. This was giggly, flirty, pompous, tipsy-drunk, drinkers reminded of manners by their fancy attire. Rachel would’ve preferred the normal drunk. Alcohol just made these people even worse. She wasn’t sure if she could take the semi-slurred small talk anymore. Her teammates had dispersed throughout the party, leaving her to fend for herself. She could see Lucian talking to some pretty girl over by the bar; Matt and Stella were sitting down, making fun of a prissy family of old money a few tables away; and Kat was talking to a few teenagers that Rachel recognized from a Camp Half-blood based group. Rachel probably should’ve rejoined her friends in socializing, but she hadn’t wanted to go to this in the first place. She had been hanging with Annie earlier, but had gotten sick of her and Malcolm freezing and walking away from each other whenever they made eye contact or gotten within fifteen feet of each other, the two still uncomfortable over their break up a month earlier. She was also trying to avoid a certain thirty-something year old man that kept talking to her and looking a little too closely over her long blue dress. So there she was, standing in a corner near one of the exit doors, sipping on her second glass of champagne, trying to hide behind the decorations and wondering if was an acceptable time to leave and grab a taxi home. That was when Zack Johnson came over. She had spoken to Zack maybe twice before, when she had been at Camp Half-blood. She didn’t really know him well, except that it seemed he was prone to injuring himself while fighting and doing stupid things. He leaned against the wall; he had obviously been drinking. He stared at her and slurred, “You look depressed, why?” Rachel blinked. “What?” “You look sad. Why?” “I’m not sad. I’m...” She struggled for a word. “Bored.” “Why?” “The people are stupid.” “Well, you’re not wrong. Still, there’s plenty to do here. We were just taking bets on whether or not Spoons McGillicutty over there was gonna score.” “Spoons McGillicutty?” “Uh...” Zack searched the room for a moment and pointed at Lucian, who was still talking to that girl by the bar. “That dude.” “Oh,” Rachel laughed a little. “That’s Lucian. He probably will, he can be super charming.” Zack looked at her in disbelief. “I mean...you know. He’s good with words. Also he’s hot and he has an accent. Chicks dig that.” Zack looked over at Lucian and then to a wine bottle sitting on a nearby table. “I wonder if I could land the headshot like this...” “Headshot?” Rachel questioned suspiciously. “You know, if I were to throw the bottle at him.” "Please don't." He sighed. “Yes dear.” Rachel struggled for a moment for what to say. “So, uh...How’s camp?” She asked lamely. “Campy. How’s...the flying city I can’t remember the name of?” “Olympus. It’s flying.” “Nice. Uhh, so...how’s your love life?” She sighed. “Nonexistant. How’s yours?” “I’m sorry. It..uh..exists.” Rachel shrugged. “How’s it existing?” He thought about it. “Well?” “That’s good.” “Now I’m rubbing it in and I feel bad.” “What? Oh, no, don’t feel bad,” Rachel insisted. “I mean I’m only a teenager and I have other responsibilities and commitments, I don’t need a relationship, plus two people on my team just broke up and they’re super awkward,” she finished with a small, high laugh. “Who?” He looked suddenly very interested. “Oh. Uh. Malcolm and Annie. Parker. Malcolm Parker and Annie Anitho.” “Do I need to beat him up?” Zack asked seriously. “Oh, no, no, don’t beat Malcolm up. I feel bad for him. I mean, it seemed like it was going really well to everyone, even him, but then she just broke up with him one day. Kind of weird.” “Ohhhh.” “Yeahh,” she nodded. Zack looked around the party, finally looking to Lucian. “Zeus dammit. Just lost ten drachmas.” Rachel followed his glance. There was Lucian and the girl, kissing fiercely and not looking like they were going to stop any time soon. “Yeah, those drachmas were gone when you bet them.” “Oh well. When she gets pregnant and he’s forced to marry her, I can laugh about it then.” Rachel frowned. “Oh, don’t say that.” She took a long sip of champagne. Zack shrugged and took a long swig of rum. Someone on a small platform started to speak over the microphone, beginning some long speech thanking everyone for attending. Rachel sighed, beginning to tune them out. At least speeches meant that she would be able to leave soon. Just as she noticed Zack pointing some sort of rubber band gun towards Lucian, she felt a sharp pain at her neck. She gasped, reaching up and touching what felt like some sort of dart. She tried to pull it out, but could already feel the world going fuzzy. Her vision blurred and her knees collapsed, but someone caught her before they could hit the floor. Was it Zack? No, Zack was falling too, she could see his outline, blurring out of the darkness... And then it went black.